Howdy everyone. I apologize to anyone who receives this letter twice (or even worse), as a couple of the e-mail lists I am using may overlap.
I am writing this letter to inform, invite, and ask for help. I’d like to let each individual decide for themselves what combination of these things apply to them. In just over a month I will be making my first ever attempt at the Boston to NYC AIDS Ride. Some of you I haven’t talked to in quite some time, but I thought might be interested to know that I’m doing this. Some of you live near Boston or NYC and might be interested in coming to the start or end of the ride (I believe both will be quite impressive, and good fun). And some of you may be interested in helping me meet my fundraising requirement and help in the fight against AIDS.
On September 15th the 275 mile bike ride from Boston to New York City will begin. The opening ceremonies start at 6:00 am. Definitely before my normal wake up time but I’ll be there and it’d be swell if anyone was interested in seeing it. After two 100 mile days and one 75 mile day I will be arriving in Manhattan on September 17th. The closing ceremonies should be at around 5:00 pm. A much nicer time, if anyone is in the NYC area and would like to come (I can send along more detailed information to those who may be interested).
The AIDS Ride is a ride, it is not a race. The purpose of it is to bring together people like myself and get them to put in a little extra effort to do something they wouldn’t normally be prepared to do (in my case this means getting up before 8:00 am just about every weekend to go on training rides). In doing so, I and 3,000 other riders will raise public awareness about the AIDS problem and will raise a significant amount of money to help fight the disease. The money raised by this event will go to the Boston based Fenway Community Health organization. The Fenway is a grassroots neighborhood clinic that serves people who would otherwise go without treatment. Many of these people do not have health insurance or are inadequately insured. The Fenway also provides substance abuse counseling and detox services. Additionally, the Fenway performs drug and vaccine research and testing. Great strides have been made in the fight against AIDS, and many of us have become used to the idea that it exists. But the fact is that it is still devastating low income communities as well as entire countries. This is particularly true in many parts of Africa where very few people can afford the drug treatments that are required for an HIV+ individual to survive and lead a relatively normal life. And still, there is no cure and no vaccine.
In order to participate in the ride I need to raise $1700. To be honest, I have never felt comfortable putting people in a high pressure situation and asking them for money. This is why I have chosen to approach this in a low pressure and potentially anonymous way. If you wish to make a contribution in the ongoing struggle against AIDS and help people less fortunate than yourself, it would be greatly appreciated. If you wish to make an anonymous donation you can print out the attach PDF file (Adobe Acrobat), fill it out, and mail it to the address on the form (The Acrobat Reader is a very useful piece of software and can be obtained for free at http://www.nicva.org/download/index.html ). If you do not want to go through the trouble of filling out the form and mailing it you can give/send a check to me and I will take care of the paper work for you. The check can be made out to Boston->New York AIDSRide, or to me (whatever is easier for you).
If you do wish to make a donation I would greatly appreciate it if you could do so by the 15th of August (this has to do with the closing dates that the AIDS Ride imposes). If you cannot get your pledge form post marked by the 17th please send it directly to me. Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions you can reach me at (617) 776-3987 or via e-mail. Thank you for your support, in whatever form it may come.
Sincerely, Mark (RIDER #823)